What Are Quarantine Pods and Do You Need One?

September is here and for many families in Texas, that means kids are returning to school, and with that comes a sense of worry and concern about the spread of disease and germs, especially the spread of Covid-19. Kids are notoriously social creatures and while at school, they will meet old friends and make new friends. Once they leave school and come home, for the younger children, it may be difficult to make them understand why they can’t have friends over to play or why they can’t spend the night over at a friend’s house. One solution that emerged back at the beginning of the pandemic and is gaining ground again as our nation faces potential lockdowns and more isolation, is the concept of Quarantine Pods.

According to Consumer Reports, a Quarantine Pod is an informal agreement between a small group of families, normally neighbors, where they allow their children and other family members to socialize after school. The members of the pod don’t wear exercise social distancing, nor do they wear face masks. However, if eligible, all pod members are vaccinated. In return for participating in the pod, members agree to not participate in other pods and to eliminate or greatly reduce contact with people outside of the pod.

In the event a pod member exhibits symptoms such as fever, congestion, runny nose, etc., pod members agree to immediate testing for Covid-19 and the many variants that are prevalent throughout the world today. In the greater Longview, Texas area, there are many locations available for people to get tested for free and/or to get vaccinated.

Obviously, the best solution is to limit your pod size and in most cases, you may want to avoid any contact with people outside your family. But studies have shown that socialization is conducive to better mental health. Just remember, start your pod clean, start your pod small, and make sure every member understands expectations. If a potential risk occurs, such as a pod member coming in contact with possible exposure, it is incumbent to notify all pod members so they make take protective actions to prevent the potential spread of the virus.

Start your pod clean

Starting your pod clean means that all members of the pod should be virus and symptom-free. Some pods require members to submit to a Covid screening and to produce a negative result before they are allowed to join the pod. Other pods add the requirement of all members must be vaccinated. This is difficult if not impossible for pods with small children. The main point of starting a pod is to provide a social environment where everyone can socialize without fear of becoming infected by the virus. All it takes is one infected member to infect the entire pod. More about this subject is contained below in the understanding expectations section.

Start your pod small

The smaller the pod, the easier it will be to manage the pod. Once a pod becomes established, then additional pod members can be added as needed. However, the question that pops up frequently is how large is too large, and is it better to have one large well-managed pod or several smaller pods? The whole point of having a pod is for families to have a way to socialize with other families. For example, grandparents might represent one external pod to the core family, or a nearby family of similar size, likes, and tastes might represent another external pod.

If a family of 4 with 2 grandparents agrees to form a pod with another family of 4 with 2 grandparents, that's 12 people in a pod. Imagine tracking the whereabouts and number of external contacts each pod member makes during a given day and it becomes relatively easy to determine that any pod much larger than 10-12 people would become burdensome and might not be manageable at all, considering the things a pod may want to track to remain safe from infection.

However, a family of 4 or 5 members should be easy to manage. Thus if a group of pods all agreed to abide by the same contact and membership rules and did so with some sort of external verification to make it easy to determine a source of infection, if one should occur, then multiple smaller pods may be the way to go.

Understand expectations

Managing expectations depends on the members' understanding of why the pods are being formed. The one resounding goal is to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Your pod may take the shape of your family forming a pod with another family who has kids that are friends with your kids. They attend the same school, play on the same teams, attend the same afterschool functions, etc. Both families may agree that for the duration of the pandemic they will limit their families' exposure to outsiders only to other members of the pod.

Likewise, maybe you are a university student who is also concerned about the spread of Covid. So you and a small group of friends all agree to similar rules and limit or eliminate any outside contact with people who are not members of your pod with the understanding these controls are only in place for the duration of the pandemic and for the purpose of providing members with some socialization without unnecessary risk or exposure to the virus.

Regardless of who the members are, the success of the pod is determined by the members' willingness to abide by the rules of contact. If members join a pod, they must agree to avoid contact with folks outside the pod in order for the pod to limit exposure to the virus. With some forethought and planning, people can continue to develop healthy relationships and learn to socialize and make friends without the worry of becoming sick from Covid.